Elizabeth K. Lanier
General Counsel
US Airways, Inc. is the nation’s seventh largest airline, and in spite of the challenges its industry has faced, the airline remains committed to developing a diverse workforce with talents and perspectives reflective of the customers and communities it serves.
To help further this commitment, the corporation has three affinity groups: the Professional Women’s Group, committed to developing women in the company; the Minority Professional Association, committed to preparing employees of color for success in the workplace; and Spectrum, which focuses on gays and lesbians in the workforce.
The legal department, led by Executive Vice President, Corporate Affairs and General Counsel Elizabeth Lanier, is similarly passionate in its pursuit of diversity. The department consists of nine attorneys, four of whom are female, and two of whom are minorities.
Under Lanier’s leadership, the department created a legal internship program dedicated to employing diverse first- and second-year law students from law schools in the Washington metropolitan area. The department also established performance guidelines by which to monitor outside law firms, based on their commitment to assigning US Airways’ matters to women and minorities. Additionally, the department provides retention credit for the efforts of the attorneys performing the job.
Embracing the notion of diversity fully, US Airways also created a religious accommodation policy to ensure that all employees work in an environment in which they can feel comfortable about their religious beliefs.
US Airways has garnered praise from a variety of organizations. The Hispanic Association on Corporate Responsibility recognized it as one of the few major companies that has an Hispanic member on its board of directors. It also earned the Blue Ribbon certificate for supporting women in the workplace, and the NAACP Annual Corporate award.
The organization of Black Airline Pilots recognized US Airways for hiring the largest number of African- American pilots of any airline over a one-year period. And the Gay Financial Network named US Airways as one of the “Top 50 gay and lesbian friendly” U.S. corporations for employment in both 2000 and 2001.
US Airways goes beyond compliance to embody a spirit of commitment to cultivating superior talent from diverse backgrounds. The result is a culture of inclusion and effective support systems for all of its employees.
From the November/December 2003 issue of Diversity & The Bar®